Hinged deflectors for sliding roofs

ABSTRACT

A hinged draught deflector for a vehicle sliding roof comprises a flap carried by a pair of transversely spaced longitudinal arms. The arms are pivotally connected to brackets for connection to the fixed roof structure on opposite sides of an opening adapted to be closed by a slidable panel. Springs act between the arms and the brackets to urge the flap upwardly and rearwardly into a raised operative position.

- [73] Assignee: Weathershields United States Patent 1 Perks [54] HINGEDDEFLECTORS FOR SLIDING ROOFS [75] Inventor: Joseph Perks, Birmingham,England Limited, Birmingham, England [22] Filed: Jan. 7, 1971 211 Appl.No.: 104,727

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Jan. 10, 1970 Great Britain..l.300/70 52 us. Cl. ..296/137 E 51 Int. Cl. ..B60j 7/10 58 Field ofSearch ..296/l37 E, 137 c, 84 K [56] References Cited UNITED STATESPATENTS 1,981,897 11/1934 Bishop ..296/137 E 11' 3,711,150 Jan. 16,1973

FOREIGN PATENTsoR APPLICATIONS 534,498 [0/1955 ltaly ..296/l 37 EPrimary ExaminerBenjamin l-lersh Assistant Examiner-Robert R. SongAttorney-Scrivener, Parker, Scrivener & Clarke [57] ABSTRACT A hingeddraught deflector for a vehicle sliding roof comprises a flap carried bya pair of transversely spaced longitudinal arms. The arms are pivotallyconnected to brackets for connection to the fixed roof structure onopposite sides of an opening adapted to be closed by a slidable panel.Springs act between the arms and the brackets to urge the flap upwardlyand rearwardly into a raised operative position.

2 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJAN 16 I975 SHEET 1 [IF 2 mm mmHINGED DEFLECTORS FOR SLIDING ROOFS This invention relates to hingeddraught deflectors for vehicle sliding roofs of the kind in which atransverse flap is located at the front end of an opening in the frontpart of a vehicle roof, adapted to be closed by a longitudinally slidingpanel, and the flap is supported at each end by spring loaded meanswhich urge the flap into an upwardly and rearwardly inclined operativeposition and which are adapted to be engaged by the sliding panel as itmoves into the closed position to close the flap into an inoperativeposition in which it lies within the opening and the panel can slideover it.

Hitherto in hinged draught deflectors of the kind set forth the flap ispivotally connected at its forward edge to the fixed roof structure atthe front end of the opening, and the spring loaded means are eachsecured separately to the fixed roof structure on one side oftheopening.

- Depending upon the particular vehicle in which the deflector is to beincorporated, it is often difficult without, performing extensivemodifications, to provide the pivotal connection between .the flap andthe roof structure.

In another known construction of hinged draught deflector the spring.loaded means each comprises a resilient blade spring secured at itsrear end to the fixed structure on a corresponding side of the openingand carrying the flap at its opposite forward end. When the roof panelis moved rearwardly into an open position the flap is urged upwardly bythe resilience of the blade spring and it is difficult to arrange foreach spring to deflect by the same amount to ensure that, in theoperative position, the flap lies in a position spaced from the fixedroof structure by a constant distance throughout its length. i

According to our invention in'a hinged deflector of the kind set forththe flap is carried by a pair of transversely spaced longitudinallyextending arms pivotally connected at their ends remote from the flap tobrackets adapted to be secured to the fixed structure of the roof onopposite sides of the opening, and springs acting between the arms andthe brackets apply to the arms turning moments to urge the flap upwardlyand rearwardly into the operative position.

Preferably each spring comprises a helical tension spring which actsbetween a transverse pin fixed in an arm at'a position spaced below itspivotal connection with a bracket, and an anchorage in the bracketforward of the pivotal connection between the arm and the bracket.

The extent of the opening movement of the flap with respect to thebracket is limited by an engagement between complementary parts of eacharm and the bracket to which that arm is pivotally connected. Con- Vveniently this is achieved by an engagement between the pin and theforward end of an arcuate slot in the bracket in which the pin isslidably guided.

The forces of the Y tension springs are contained wholly within a pairof sub-assemblies each comprising an arm and a bracket to which it ispivotally connected.

The deflector is mounted in any convenient position with respect to theforward end of an opening in a vehicle roof by simply securing thebrackets .to the fixed modifications being required.

One embodiment of our invention is illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section through the front part of a vehicleroof fitted with a longitudinally slidable panel and a hinged deflectorwhich is shown in an 'operative position;

deflector longitudinally slidable panel adapted to close anopenstructure on opposite sides of the opening, no other ing 1 1 in thefront part of a vehicle roof 12, the opening being uncovered by slidingthe panel'rearwardly in any known manner. I

A deflector 13 extends transversely across the front end of the roofopening immediately behind a crossmember 14. The deflector 13 comprisesa flap 15 which is of curved convex outline or C shaped section in aforward direction and is of a constant section throughout its length.The flap 15 may be moulded from a synthetic plastics material which maybe opaque or transparent and is curved to the transverse contour of theroof. Alternatively the'flap-lS may be constructed from a sheet metalpressing. In either construction the flap 15 carries a forwardlyprojecting transversely extending sealing strip 16 of flexible resilientmaterial for sealing engagement with the cross member 14 when thedeflector is in the tion shown in FIG. I.

The flap 15 is carried from the free forward ends of a pair of arms 17,which in turn are hingedly connected at their rear ends to brackets 18secured to a portion of i the fixed structure 19 of the roof 12on'opposite sides of the opening 1 1.

As. illustrated the rear face of the flap I5 is secured to a transversemounting strip 20 which is of curvedconvex outline in 'a forwarddirection complementary to that of the flap l5. Opposite end portions atthe upper edge of the mounting strip 20 are deformed downwardly to forma pair of rearwardly extending spaced tongues 21. Each tongue 21 lies ina position disposed at an angle of less than with respect to a tangentat the point in the current surface of the mounting strip 21 with whichthat tongue 21 is continuous in a direction towards the upper edge ofthe mounting strip 20. 1

Each arm 17. is of substantially inverted Ushaped channel section havinga central web 22 provided with a pair of downwardly extending spacedparallel side flanges 23 between which the tongue 21 at that end of themounting strip 20 is received and is secured to the web 22 at that endof the arm 17. The flanges 23 are of -a constant depth for a major partof theirlengths but define on obtuse angle, and a portion 25 of the web'22 at that end of the arm 17 is deformed downwardly between the flanges23 into a position in which its outer .surface is aligned substantiallywith the inclined end edges 24.

operative posi- Each bracket 18 is of substantially U-shaped channelsection having a pair of parallel longitudinally extending upstandingflanges 26. The enlarged portions of the flanges 23 of each arm 17straddle the flanges 26 of the bracket 17 onthat side of the opening 11,and the arm 17, adjacent to its rear end, is pivotally connected to thebracket 17 by a transverse pin 27 which is passed through alignedcomplementary openings in the flaps 23 and 26 and is fixedly secured atopposite ends in the openings in the flanges 23.

Each bracket 18 extends forwardly by a substantial distance from itspivotal connection 27 with an arm 17. A helical tension spring '28 ishoused between the flanges 26 of each bracket. Each tension spring 28 isanchored at opposite ends between a transverse pin 29 secured atopposite ends in the flanges 26 adjacent to the forward end of thebracket in which it is housed, and a transverse pin 30 secured atopposite ends between the flanges 23 of the arm 17 which is pivotallyconnected to that bracket. Each transverse pin 30 is located in aposition spaced downwardly in a radial direction from the pivot pin 27and extends through aligned'arcuate slots 31 in the flanges ofthe'bracket 18. The arcuate slots are of sufficient circumferentiallength to ensure that movgment of the deflector 13 between an operativeraised position and an inoperative closed position is not impeded.

The rear end edges 32 of the flanges 26 of the brackets 18 areinclinedforwardly at acute angles so that they are parallel with andspaced from the inner faces'of the portion 25 of the webs 22 when thedeflector 13 is in the operative raised position shown in FIG.

When the panel 10 is slid towards its open position shown in FIG. 1 ofthe drawings, the forces in the tension springs 28 act through thetransverse pins 30 to move the arms 17 and the flap 15 upwardly andrearwardly about the .pivot pins 27 as axes and into the operativeraised position defined by engagements between the pins 30 and theforward ends of the arcuate slots 31 in the brackets 18. ln thatposition the sealing strip 16. engages with the cross-member 14 toprevent draughts being caused by air flow between the flap 15 and thecross-member 14. When the vehicle is in motion the deflector deflectsupwardly clear of the opening 11 air flowing over the windscreen andover part'of the roof in front of the opening 1 1.

. When thepanel 10 is slid towards its closed position shown in FIG. 2,downwardly depending transversely spaced abutments32 adjacent to theforwardedge of the panel '10 engage with the arms 17 to move the arms 17and the flap l downwardly and forwardly against thefree into the tensionsprings 28 and into the inoperative position in which the flap l5 lieswithin the opening 11 and the panel is slid over it.

lclaim:

verse flap for location at the front end of an opening in a vehicleroof, a pair of transversely spaced longitudinally extending arms eachhaving a forward end and a rear end, rigid connections between saidforward ends of said arms and said flap, a pair of brackets ,forconnection to roof structure on opposite sides of the opening, a pivotalconnection between said rear end of each arm and one of said brackets,springs acting between said arms and said brackets to apply to said armsturning moments to urge said flap upwardly and rearwardly into anoperative position, each bracket being provided with an arcuate slothaving a forward end, and a trans verse pin fixed in each arm slidablyguided within said arcua te slot in said bracket to which that arm isconnect'ed by said pivotal connection, and an engagement between saidforward end of each slot and said transpanel for closing an opening in afront part of a vehicle 1. A hinged draught deflector for a vehiclesliding roof, said hinged draught deflector comprising a transverse flapfor location at the front end of an opening in a vehicle roof, a pair oftransversely spaced generally U-shaped channel section arms having apair of substantially parallel downwardly extending spaced flanges and aforward end and a rear end, rigid connections between said forwards endsof said arms and said flap, a pair of brackets for connection to roofstructure on op-. posite sides of the opening, each bracket having apair of upstanding flanges which are straddled V by said flanges ofv oneof said arms, a pivotal connection between said rear end of each arm andone of said brackets, each pivotal connection comprising a transversepivot pin passed through aligned complementary openings in said flangesof said arm and said bracket, a second transverse pin fixed in saidflanges of eacharm at a position spaced below said pivotal connection,said flanges of said brackets being provided with aligned arcuate slotsin which said second transverse pins are received, an anchorage in eachbracket forward of said pivotal connection, and helical tension springsacting between said second transverse pins and said anchorages to applyto said arms turning moments to urge said flap upwardly and rearwardlyinto an operative position, said deflector being so constructed andarranged that it is installed within a sliding roof the said arms areadapted to be engaged by the slidable panel as the panel is moved into aposition to close the opening whereby said flap is moved into aninoperative position

1. A hinged draught deflector for a vehicle sliding roof of the typecomprising a longitudinally slidable panel for closing an opening in afront part of a vehicle roof, said hinged draught deflector comprising atransverse flap for location at the front end of an opening in a vehicleroof, a pair of transversely spaced longitudinally extending arms eachhaving a forward end and a rear end, rigid connections between saidforward ends of said arms and said flap, a pair of brackets forconnection to roof structure on opposite sides of the opening, a pivotalconnection between said rear end of each arm and one of said brackets,springs acting between said arms and said brackets to apply to said armsturning moments to urge said flap upwardly and rearwardly into anoperative position, each bracket being provided with an arcuate slothaving a forward end, and a transverse pin fixed in each arm slidablyguided within said arcuate slot in said bracket to which that arm isconnected by said pivotal connection, and an engagement between saidforward end of each slot and said transverse pin slidably guided thereindefining said operative position of said flap, said deflector being soconstructed and arranged that when it is installed in a sliding roof thesaid arms are adapted to be engaged by the slidable panel as the panelis moved into a position to close the openingwhereby said flap is movedinto an inoperative position in opposition to said springsin which saidflap lies within the opening and the panel can slide over it.
 2. Ahinged draught deflector for a vehicle sliding roof of the typecomprising a longitudinally slidable panel for closing an opening in afront part of a vehicle roof, said hinged draught deflector comprising atransverse flap for location at the front end of an opening in a vehicleroof, a pair of transversely spaced generally U-shaped channel sectionarms having a pair of substantially parallel downwardly extending spacedflanges and a forward end and a rear end, rigid connections between saidforwards ends of said arms and said flap, a pair of brackets forconnection to roof structure on opposite sides of the opening, eachbracket having a pair of upstanding flanges which are straddled by saidflanges of one of said arms, a pivotal connection between said rear endof each arm and one of said brackets, each pivotal connection comprisinga transverse pivot pin passed through aligned complementary openings insaid flanges of said arm and said bracket, a second transverse pin fixedin said flanges of each arm at a position spaced below said pivotalconnection, said flanges of said brackets being provided with alignedarcuate slots in which said second transverse pins are received, ananchorage in each bracket forward of said pivotal connection, andhelical tension springs acting between said second transverse pins andsaid anchorages to apply to said arms turning moments to urge said flapupwardly and rearwardly into an operative position, said deflector beingso constructed and arranged that it is installed within a sliding roofthe said arms are adapted to be engaged by the slidable panel as thepanel is moved into a position to close the opening whereby said flap ismoved into an inoperative position in opposite to said helical tensionsprings in which said flap lies within said opening and the panel canslid over it.